Additions
by ashlanielle
Summary: Reality hits everyone when Martha suddenly goes into labor. Fears are revealed and questions are asked as everyone awaits the little one's arrival. Follows "Falling In Love At a Coffee Shop" and "When Push Comes to Shove."


Ten minutes. Ten minutes of reprieve was all Martha had before pain seized her abdomen. She had to focus all of her attention on her breathing because with each new wave, the pain began to intensify. Despite the growing discomfort, she remained silent, only wincing and inhaling sharply with each contraction. She wasn't ready for this. It was still early, only thirty-five weeks. But it wasn't just the fact the baby was early—it was the fact that the reality of becoming a mother was hitting her full force, and quite literally at that.

She adjusted her position on the couch, but it didn't do any good. It was Sunday morning, or what Tony called Pancake Day, and she, Mickey, and John were dispersed throughout the living room. Rose was upstairs in the bathroom scrubbing a syrup covered Tony clean while she gave him a tongue lashing for his disobedience. That morning, Rose had cut Tony off at four pancakes, which he didn't take to kindly. He'd waited till the adults were distracted and snuck into the kitchen for more. When he tried to take the syrup bottle out of the cabinet, he accidently dropped it, causing it to hit the plate of leftover pancakes and splatter him with its sticky contents. Rose had rushed to the kitchen to find a wide-eyed and syrup laden Tony. She immediately gave him "The Look" and marched him up the stairs as Tony threw a verbal tantrum. This left Martha alone with Mickey and John, both of whom were complaining about the various wedding "tortures" that the girls were making them participate in.

Ten minutes rapidly turned into eight, and it was getting harder to hide her pain. She dug her nails into the couch as another contraction claimed her. Mickey and John continued to chatter on, this time about something or another but Martha could have cared less. Just the sound of their voices was like nails on a chalkboard, infuriating her with each syllable.

_Would you two gits shut up? Shut up, shut up, shut up, SHUT UP!_

Apparently the last "shut up" wasn't just shouted in her head, because the two of them jerked their heads up and looked at her quizzically.

Mickey watched worriedly as Martha's body tensed and she bit her lip.

"Ya ok, babe?" his voice cracking as he nervously waited for her answer. He hoped—no, prayed—that it wasn't what he thought.

Her body relaxed as the pain passed and she quickly nodded her head.

"Yeah…'m fine," she said breathily.

"Y-you…you sure?" John croaked, just as eager as Mickey to have his suspicions squelched.

"I said I'm fine," she snapped.

It was just then that a pouting Tony plodded into the living room, Rose on his heels. She immediately saw Mickey and John's panicked expressions and worriedly followed their gaze to Martha. She instantly realized what was happening.

"Oh my God—you're in labour!" she said, her excitement mixed with concern as she saw Martha's obvious pain. She whirled around and glared at the two men. "And you two are just sittin' there?"

The two of them appeared to be physically attached to their seats as neither of them made an attempt to move.

"Oi! Snap out of it!" she shouted, pulling each of them up by their shirtsleeves. "John, take Tony and get the car. Mickey, help Martha get_ to_ the car. I'll get her bag."

The two men continued to stand still, wide-eyed and terrified.

Martha couldn't take it any longer.

"Move it!" she shouted, and the men finally snapped into action.

Martha squeezed Rose's hand as another contraction came, this one the strongest yet.

"Keep breathing…almost over…," Rose gently coached.

Martha exhaled and laid her head back on the pillow.

"Is it too late for a surrogate?" Martha joked weakly.

"Might be a lil late in the game for that," Rose said, grinning at her and taking a cool rag to Martha's forehead.

A few silent tears escaped Martha's eyes, rolling down her temples.

"What's wrong, Mar?" Rose asked worriedly, sensing the tears had nothing to do with her current physical pain.

Martha turned and looked at her, giving a wet chuckle.

"You haven't called me Mar in a long time."

Rose gave her a small grin. "I like to save it for special occasions. Besides, you haven't called me Ro in just as long. But you're avoiding the subject…what's bothering you? Y'know, despite the obvious."

Martha's tears began to gain strength. "I can't do this…," she choked.

"Can't do what? Give birth? 'Course ya can," Rose reassured her.

Martha shook her head fiercely.

"No, I mean I can't be a mum. I don't know the first thing 'bout it. What if I screw it up? Ya met my mum—not exactly a shining example. We never got along, argued all the time. I mean, Jackie was the closest thing I had to a real mum, but I'm nothing like her! I d-don't kn-now…," Martha trailed off as she began to sob, her tears a mixture of exhaustion and genuine fear.

"Hey, hey…s'ok. Calm down, love," Rose soothed. She stroked Martha's damp hair. "Now ya listen to me—you will be a _fantastic_ mum! No question."

Martha began to protest again, but Rose cut her off.

"No—don't argue with me. All these years you've helped with Tony. Late nights when we couldn't get 'im to go to sleep, nightmares, homework, play dates—you name it, you've done it. I couldn't have done any of it without you. You've helped him become the amazing little boy he is. You and Mick have so much love to give and this baby…it's the luckiest baby in the world, because it has you two."

"Thank you for that," Martha said softly.

"I'm your sister. It's what I do."

Despite the pain and exhaustion, Martha gave her a brilliant smile.

"I love you, Ro—ya know that?"

Rose grinned at the moniker. "Love you too, Mar."

Rose sat in one of the chairs in the waiting room reading a well-worn copy of _Mansfield Park_, her legs folded underneath her. John and Tony sat across from her, coloring silently. The comfortable silence was unceremoniously broken as Tony piped up.

"John?"

"Yeah?" John replied absentmindedly, continuing to focus on the Batman he was currently coloring.

"Can I ask ya something'?"

"Uh-huh."

"Aunt Martha's havin' a baby, yeah?"

"Yep," he answered, still only half present.

"How…how did it get there?"

John's crayon broke as Tony finished his question, and his eyes flitted upwards and locked with the little boy's. Rose's head snapped up from her book and she stared intently at them.

John took a hard swallow and quickly turned his gaze toward the ground, boring holes into the half colored page.

"Um…what?"

"The baby in her tummy…how'd it _get_ there?" Tony asked innocently, his chocolate eyes curious and questioning.

John whirled his head around to Rose, panic etched onto the entire surface of his face.

Rose stifled her giggle, putting on a serious face that still couldn't hide the mirth in her eyes.

"Yeah, John…how _did_ it get there?" she asked with a smile, her tongue peeking through her teeth.

That smile usually earned her an amazing snog, but today all it earned her was a glare and slight scowl. Rose didn't mind though; this scenario was too good. John turned back to Tony and gulped again.

"Um…weelll…w-when a man and wom-…see…um…," John fumbled miserably, randomly gesturing as he did so.

Tony cocked his head to the side, clearly confused, and Rose tried to hide her laughter behind her book.

John cleared his throat. "Maybe you should ask Uncle Mickey…"

A beat passed before Tony spoke again. "Are you and Rose gonna have a baby, too?"

At _that_ question, Rose was on her feet in an instant, panic now written on her face.

"How 'bout we go downstairs to the cafeteria? Get some ice cream, yeah?"

Tony quickly got to his feet and eagerly grabbed her hand, his question now forgotten.

Rose and Tony had been gone for over twenty minutes, but John didn't notice. He rested his head against the wall and folded his arms as Tony's last question turned over and over in his mind. A baby? Were they going to have a baby? John felt like someone had literally rattled his brain. Now all he had was one word stuck on repeat—"baby."

He'd be lying if he said that the thought hadn't crossed his mind a time or two. But, he'd never actually stopped and pondered on the idea. In fact, the two of them hadn't even talked about it—strange considering they had talked about virtually everything else.

_Does she want a baby? _

It hadn't escaped his notice that Rose looked absolutely panicked at Tony's question and quickly left the room under the pretense of getting ice cream.

_Does that mean she doesn't want kids? _

John's frantic rush of thoughts and feelings came to a halt as Mickey entered the waiting room and took a seat across from him. The father-to-be looked completely zoned out.

"Everything ok?" John asked.

"Yeah. I thought I'd just give the nurse a minute to check on Martha," he answered, but John suspected that he really just needed a moment to regain his composure.

The two of them sat in silence for a couple of minutes before Mickey spoke up.

"Why are you sittin' on the floor?"

"Um…Tony asked me where babies came from…kinda found it hard to stand after that question."

Mickey snorted in amusement. "What'd ya tell 'im?"

John tugged on his ear. "I told him to ask you," he replied with a sheepish smile.

"Oh great! Thanks for _that_ one."

Another beat passed.

"Did you and Martha _want _kids?"

"Yeah…I mean sorta."

John quirked a brow in confusion. "How do you 'sorta' want kids?"

"Well, we didn't talk a lot about it. I mean we got married when we were still teenagers, and what teenagers talk about havin' kids? Then a year later…BAM…we suddenly _had_ to raise a baby. But being with Tony made us think about it…and the more we thought about it, the more we wanted one."

John nodded his head slowly, taking in Mickey's answer.

Mickey could see the wheels turning in John's head.

"Why do ya ask?"

Before John could reply, Rose and Tony returned, Tony eagerly shoving a heaping spoonful of chocolate into his mouth. Mickey suddenly understood what had provoked John's question.

They had been at the hospital for seven hours. Tony quickly became restless and asked to go to "Grandpa and Grandma's," which Wilf and Harriet happily agreed to. After chatting for a while, Wilf and Harriet left with Tony, and Rose snuggled up next to John, still wearing her oversized hoodie from earlier that morning. Mickey was sitting with Martha, and she couldn't help but start to doze off.

"Rose?"

"Hmm?" she replied sleepily, keeping her head on his shoulder.

"You awake?"

"Am now…," she sighed, sitting up and looking at him.

"Sorry," he said.

Rose could tell he was nervous, and even though she had a suspicion as to why, she was still worried about him.

"What's wrong?" she asked softly, lacing her fingers with his.

He averted his eyes before he spoke.

"D-Do…," he cleared his throat, "do you want…kids?"

Every inch of Rose became fixed in place. She had been afraid of this question ever since Tony had asked it earlier. No, that wasn't true—she'd been afraid of it ever since they got together. She knew her answer, was certain of it from the beginning. What terrified her was that she wasn't certain of _his_ answer. She took her other hand and began nervously tracing random shapes over his. He still wouldn't look at her, which further concerned her. She couldn't say her answer before she knew his. If he didn't feel the same way, it would break her heart.

"Do…you?" she asked, her voice just above a whisper.

He finally looked up at her, slightly irritated with her for turning the question back on him.

"Rose…," he started but was cut off as Mickey came out of Martha's room and called to her.

"Rose?"

Reluctantly, she turned toward Mickey. "Yeah?"

"Martha wants you…the doctor says she's almost ready to push."

"'kay…I'm coming," she said and turned back to look at John. She leaned forward and kissed him, before quickly getting up and going into Martha's room.

John scrubbed his face and sighed as he watched her walk away.

Forty-five minutes later, John was still waiting outside the room and mulling over what Rose would've said, upset that he didn't just come out and tell her what _he_ wanted.

"Mr. Noble?" the nurse suddenly called out.

He lifted his head up. "Yes?" he said with a small, tired smile.

"They're asking for you," she said as she returned his smile.

He quickly rose and entered the room. Martha was reclining on the bed, her exhaustion evident but beaming nonetheless at the small bundle cradled in her arms. Mickey was sitting directly by her side, his smile rivaling hers. Rose was standing on the other side of Martha, watching them with misted eyes. At the sound of his entrance, the three of them looked at him. His face instantly broke out into a brilliant smile as he saw the baby in Martha's arms.

"John, meet Benjamin Tyler Smith," Mickey said proudly.

Martha lifted the baby slightly towards Rose. Rose gently took the now squirming bundle into her arms, stroking his face reverently with her finger. She walked over to John, the baby still in her arms. He looked down at him.

"Hello, Benjamin," he said, reaching for the little fist that had poked its way out of the blanket. He was completely overjoyed at the new arrival.

She smiled brilliantly at him and then turned her gaze back to the baby, placing a soft kiss to his forehead. John looked at the little one in Rose's arms. It was a picture of perfection. Seeing the love in Rose's eyes as she held the baby, he had no doubt about her answer and he had never been more certain of his. Rose gently handed the baby to Mickey and walked back over to John. He pulled her close and wrapped his arms around her tightly. As Martha and Mickey continued to fawn over their little one, John pulled Rose closer and kissed the top of her head. She looked up at him and smiled at him, that familiar touch of pink poking through her teeth. This time she received her usual reward. When they separated, John continued to stare at her, his eyes overflowing with emotion. There was so much he wanted to say to her in that moment, but he settled for one word—just one word.

"Yes."

She held his gaze. Her brow furrowed slightly in confusion, but then her eyes brightened with understanding, and her smile widened beyond belief.

"Yeah?" she said softly, her voice full of joy and hope.

"Yeah," he said, nodding his head eagerly and beaming at her.

Rose's eyes shined with ready tears. Smiling as never before, she wrapped her hand around the back of his head and pulled him down for a reward of his own.

* * *

**AN: There is a missing scene to this story called An Afternoon With Uncle Jack. Then I have The Only Promise That Remains. I hope you guys will enjoy them. Thanks so much. ∞Ash**


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